Rural hospitals do better than last year in ranking based on participation in national survey

Houlton (Me.) Regional Hospital

Nine of the nation's 22 best rural hospitals are in Maine and four are in Tennessee, according to the Leapfrog Group's 2013 list of top hospitals, chosen from 1,324 hospitals that answered a survey.

The number of rural hospitals on the list was a 69 percent increase from last year. The list also included 55 urban hospitals and 13 children's hospitals. Leah Binder, president and CEO of Leapfrog, said in a release: "The larger group of rural hospitals represented, including several critical-access hospitals, shows us that any hospital in America can achieve the highest standards of quality and safety, and any community, no matter how small, can benefit from top-notch health care.”

The Leapfrog news release says those on the list earned an 'A' grade for having "lower infection rates, higher survival rates for high-risk procedures, decreased length of stay, and fewer readmissions." The nine Maine hospitals are Blue Hill Memorial, Calais Regional, Charles A. Dean Memorial, Down East Community, Houlton, Inland, LincolnHealth (Miles Campus), Sebasticook Valley Health and Stephens Memorial. The four in Tennessee are Bolivar General, Camden General, Gibson General Hospital and Humboldt General.

Other rural hospitals on the list are East Morgan County Hospital (Colo.); Florida Hospital Wauchula (Fla.); Mariners Hospital (Fla.); Grinnell Regional Medical Center (Iowa); OSF Saint James - John W. Albrecht Medical Center (Ill.); Wabash General Hospital (Ill.); Fairview Hospital (Mass.); OSF St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group (Mich.) and Spectrum Health Kelsey Hospital (Mich.). To see how participating hospitals scored, click here.